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On This Day: Soviet Luna 2 Space Probe Reaches Moon

The Soviet Union’s space program launched the spacecraft Luna 1 toward the moon on Jan. 2, 1959, likely intending for it to impact the moon’s surface. It got within 5,995 kilometers of the moon before entering the orbit of the sun.

The Luna 2 was launched on Sept. 12, 1959. After 33.5 hours of flight, it crash-landed on the moon’s surface. “The ship itself was shattered,” says NASA, “but its mission was a success. Luna 2 from the Soviet Union had become the first manmade object to ‘land’ on the moon.”

The Luna Program would send 24 spacecrafts toward the moon. “Among its scientific achievements and firsts: first lunar flyby (Luna 1), first landing (Luna 2), first photographs from the dark side of the moon (Luna 3), first successful soft landing on the lunar surface (Luna 13), first analysis of lunar soil, and first deployment of a lunar rover (Luna 17),” writes Wired.

The success of the Luna 2 also influenced the way NASA designed its spacecrafts. “This may seem hard to believe,” says NASA, “but Luna 2 started a trend: Crash landing on the Moon, on purpose. Dozens of spaceships have done it.” NASA sent five Rangers spacecrafts to the moon in the 1960s, each arriving with a crash.